Nassau, Bahamas - The following are the Remarks by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie at the funeral of Frank Edgecombe JP, 25th November, 2013: 

It has been well and truly said of those who die having lived lives of honour and of service, and beloved by many, that “the song is ended but the melody lingers on”.

So it is with the good and honourable man we lay to rest today. Frank Edgecombe’s earthly song may be ended but its melody lingers on; lingers on in the hearts and in the memories of his loving wife of 64 years, his beloved children and grandchildren, and his wider family, including the great and historic community of Fox Hill, the Progressive Liberal Party, and even wider still, the entire nation of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas in whose name I bring remarks today. Yes, the song may be ended but the melody lingers on.

When you look back on Frank Edgecombe’s life, as we do today and as we shall for many years to come, there are some powerful and poignant lessons to be learned; lessons that we, the living, need to hearken to Firstly, power and position should never change who we are and what you are. You must never let it go to your head. You must never let it delude you into thinking you are something that you are not.

It never did that to Frank Edgecombe. When Frank left public life after serving some 15 years in Parliament – 10 in the House of Assembly followed by 5 in the Senate - he was still just as humble as he was on the day that he first entered frontline politics. And that’s not something that someone told me either. It’s something that I personally observed; something that I can bear first-hand witness to, as indeed I do today.Power and position never changed Frank. Instead, he remained true to himself and true to those he served, knowing always who he was and what he was, and never trying to be someone or something different. He was secure in his self-awareness, secure in his sense of personal identity. And because he was, he never had the tendency to become, as Ronnie Butler would say, “bull frog dress up in soldier clothes”. There are no two ways about it. Frank Edgecombe was an honourable man. He was a God-fearing man too. He lived by a code built, brick by brick, from the precepts of the Good Book. He was a man of deeply held Christian principles. And when it came to applying those principles to his public life, Frank was always on the right side of the line, the side where you will find the righteous.

To be clear about it, however, Frank never boasted about being righteous. He just was. He never bragged about doing the honourable thing. He just did it. Yes, the song is ended but the melody lingers on.The third lesson that Frank Edgecombe’s life holds for us is this : he showed, again by personal example, that one can serve in politics with respect for all and malice towards none.

I don’t think I ever heard Frank utter a single hurtful, nasty or malicious word about another human being. That wasn’t his way. He knew how to make his point without ever having to defame, without ever having to be offensive, without ever having to be nasty.

There are some who can’t do that for one day. Frank Edgecombe did it for 15 years straight! Not one day of his parliamentary career bears the stain of personal insult or of injury to the reputation or feelings of others.Frank respected the dignity of the human person. And he accorded to each human being, be he political friend or foe, the same respect and goodwill he wanted for himself. He was always disciplined and self-restrained in debate, never crossing the line to do harm to others in the way he spoke to them or in the way that he spoke about them.

Frank had such a wonderfully even temper. No matter the provocation, he would never deviate from being an outstanding example of how one should behave as a representative of the people in the halls of parliament. Perhaps it came from his many years as a schoolteacher and as a headmaster, knowing that he had to be the one to set the example. Whatever the reason, Frank was always the embodiment of civility in Yes, the song is ended but the melody lingers on.

 Fourthly and finally, Frank’s life holds great meaning for us because it was pre-eminently a life of service – first as a dedicated teacher and headmaster, both here in the Capitol and in the Family Islands, and later, beginning when he was almost 50, as the Member of Parliament for his beloved Fox Hill, and then as a member and the Vice-President of the There is no greater calling that one can have in this life than to be a teacher. I say that with absolute conviction because, more than in any other vocation or profession, a teacher holds the future in his or her hands, almost literally. A teacher is called to shape and mold young lives, and how well a teacher meets that challenge will determine, in a decisive way, the kind of future those young lives will have, whether for good or In Frank’s case, he had the assurance of knowing that he shaped many hundreds of lives for the better, and that he pointed them in the direction of bright futures. Indeed many of his former students are here today in silent but eloquent testimony to the great good that he infused into their lives, not only from the lessons that he taught in the classroom but also for the paternal concern that he showed for their welfare long after they would have left school and gone out into the world. He would also have shown it to them in the mighty power of his personal example. He set the standard for them to follow, especially for those young boys who didn’t have fathers in their own households. For these, Frank Edgecombe was in many ways the only father they would ever know; someone who was dedicated and loyal, firm but fair, always concerned, always accessible for guidance and assistance.

In truth, Frank was a teacher from the old school. His day did not end when the bell rang at 3 but continued instead throughout the day and into the night because back then - regrettably more so than now - teachers were not only teachers but counsellors and guides, even surrogate parents to their students.

After retiring from the public school system, Frank would go on, as we all know, to give an excellent account of himself in the world of politics, earning consistently high marks for the things that I have already recounted, and for his mature and reflective approach to the issues of his times. Beneath his calm exterior was a lively and energetic intellect. He was a truly wise man. And having him as an integral part of the councils of the Party was a blessing for us all.

Throughout Frank’s great life of service, there were three great, big constants in his life : his love for the Lord, his love for his wife and children, and his love for the Fox Hill community of which he remained a loyal resident until his last breath.

Frank never forsook Fox Hill, never abandoned it, never left it, never forgot it. Fox Hill was in him and he was in Fox Hill, right up to the very end. And he was always finding ways to be of service to his fellow Fox Hillians, just as he had given such outstanding service in his earlier roles as a teacher, as a politician, and as Chairman of an important public Frank Edgecome lived a long and useful life; a life of humility; a life of integrity and honour; a life of respect and decency towards others; a life of service as a teacher, as a parliamentarian, and as a nation builder and community patriarch. And it was a life that was made all the more exemplary by his steadfast love for the Lord, his abiding love for his wife and children and his stalwart loyalty to his Party, and to this nation and Yes, Frank Edgecombe’s earthly song is ended but the melody lingers on.May he rest in peace.

Bahamas State Recognised Funeral for Frank Edgecombe